What Story Will You Tell the World Before You Leave it?

I’m not dying. Or, more correctly, I’m dying very slowly. I should make it in 60 years or so. But I do think about life and death a lot. My grandma recently passed away and I have a cousin a couple of years older than me who’s battling cancer (AND WILL WIN!).

I think about how precious time is and how much I have to learn and to say and I hope that I get it all said before I turn ninety-five and slump over gracefully in my sea kayak at the exact same time as Dan and our spirits sail off into the great hereafter together.

Some people know they won’t make it to 95. Some won’t make it to 15 or 7. And they know it. That’s why I love the Red Fred Project by Dallas Graham. It’s a collaborative, story-making endeavor to design and publish 50 books created by 50 children with critical illnesses across the 50 states. It is a magical process and they need your help!

It’s a labor of love to help these precious kids share the stories that are inside of them. The books are beautiful and well-designed and all proceeds from the sale of each book go towards the medical expenses of each child. Here’s more from the website:

“Why are we doing this? Most of these children will not become fire-fighters, doctors, cheerleaders, vets, baristas, teachers, Olympic hopefuls or college students that pal around eating pizza until 2:30 a.m. in their dorm rooms. Due to their illnesses and physical challenges, some of these children will not live long, cannot move as others do, and have unique ways of interacting and operating in the everyday world. But what these children DO HAVE is star-dust material—these children have creative, powerful, inventive minds and spirits. They know incredible things BECAUSE of their life challenges. I want to know how they view the world and help them create an original, one-of-a-kind book, publish it, place it in the child’s hands and say, ‘Way to go! You’ve published a story; you’ve created a book.'”

This Kickstarter project has only TEN days left and has not raised nearly enough money to be funded. If you or anyone you know has even an extra dollar to donate to keep this project going, please consider making a donation. These kids are worth it.